For The Texas Rangers, Too Many 0′s Against O’s Bullpen

ARLINGTON _ The 10th-inning home run by Adam Jones that put Baltimore ahead for good against the Rangers on Tuesday night traveled about 416 feet and plopped into the Orioles’ bullpen out in left-center. How poetic.

Baltimore starter Alfredo Simon was done after recording only four outs. He’d given up three home runs by then, and the Orioles were forced to turn to a bullpen with an early-season ERA of 7.76. But the next time that the Rangers scored against the conga line of five relievers, they faced a four-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th that they couldn’t overcome despite a shaky outing by O’s closer George Sherrill.

What happened? “I don’t know,” said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who ended an 0-for-16 streak with a single that began the two-run home 10th. “It was one of those things where our approach was the same. We’re the same team. They made some good pitches, kept out of big innings. We did the same. It’s just one of those nights.”

Well, the Birds’ backstop – a familiar face from Rangers glory days in red – provided a few details.

Orioles righty Dennis Sarfate, who bounced from Milwaukee to Houston to Baltimore in the last three seasons, successfully stopped the bleeding by holding the Rangers scoreless for 3.1 innings. He came in after Chris Davis’ second homer in as many games gave the Rangers three homers in seven batters against Simon. Sarfate allowed only a third-inning double to Josh Hamilton while striking out three and walking one.

Then it was righty Chris Ray and lefty Jamie Walker (who last season had the highest ERA in the majors) and righty Jim Johnson. Combined, they pitched 7.2 scoreless before Baltimore scored four in the 10th.

Orioles catcher Gregg Zaun, the former Ranger who celebrated his 38th birthday on Tuesday, said he was confident his maligned bullpen could hold things together for so long.

“I knew we needed somebody to pick up the slack,” said Zaun, who appeared in 43 games as a Ranger on the most recent division winning team in 1999. “Dennis wasn’t throwing as hard as he normally does. He was hitting his spots a lot better. He mixed his pitches well.

“We haven’t used his change-up a whole lot. I knew if we were going to get through three or four innings, he was going to have to throw it. He threw a couple pretty good ones. He threw some good curveballs. And he didn’t give in to some of their better hitters. He threw some off-speed pitches on fastball counts, and that was the key.”

Not to mention crashing into first baseman Aubrey Huff at the fence in front of the Rangers’ dugout while making a bizarre catch on a foul out. (Note to Texas Motor Speedway’s Eddie Gossage: please send some of those soft walls to Nolan Ryan Expressway.)

“In true Oriole fashion,” Zaun said with a smile, “we were joking about it while he ‘s laying there in pain rubbing his shoulder.”

Zaun played a big role in limiting the Rangers’ attack to the three early solo homers by Michael Young, Nelson Cruz and Davis until the 10th. He threw out two base runners trying to steal second and nabbed Young at the plate following Hamilton’s double to center in the third. Zaun blocked the plate, forcing Young to go wide and try to get his left hand in.

“I don’t give the back of the plate,” Zaun said. “I’ve seen too many catchers, they get deked by the runner. They’re all taught to stay in front of the plate. I keep the plate between my legs, pretty much invite contact. I invite them to slide into me or knock me down. You can’t let him go around you.”

So the Rangers finished the night with the most homers in the majors (17) but with their fifth consecutive loss. Saltalamacchia ended his dry spell a night after Davis ended his. The batting albatross is now handed over to David Murphy, whose 0-for-3 on Tuesday night leaves him hitless in 13 at-bats this season while platooning with Marlon Byrd in left field. Murphy did make a spectacular catch in which he tested the bounce in the new out-of-town scoreboard.

“They gave us some different looks,” Murphy said of the Baltimore bullpen. “Slowed us down. I guess you’ve got to give them credit for doing their job, each of those guys who came in. We had a few situations where we could have capitalized, but we didn’t.”